Early Hints, Night Confessions
by lil-creator
Summary: [Tales of the Abyss, Post Game, LxT] The day when the game Simon Says' gets dangerous is the day when Anise gets to be the leader of that game. But it just might help... Rated T because I want to rate it T.


Authoress's Notes: Hey there! So I make a LukexTear story for Valentine's Day. I dunno, while I was looking at a fanart, it just hit me like a train! I bet after you read this, you'll be thinking what fanart I saw! (of so many LxT fanarts out there, its hard to not get insipred once or twice ) And I had to type it all down before the enthusiasm goes away! …Which took me three days. LOL. Anyway, that doesn't matter! Please oh please enjoy my fic! I would appreciate it if you gave me a review! My anonymous reviewers are on anyway…. Well, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of the Abyss or that fanart I saw.

--♥--

Tear got up from her bed, rubbing her eyes open. She yawned, got off and examined her surroundings. At first, she didn't recognize the room until her mind focused and directed her to the snowy windows. She smacked her forehead with her palm. Right, they were on hiatus—I mean on a vacation. Now that she thought of it, how did she get into a vacation anyway?

She flashbacked for a bit…

"_Come on, you guys! I asked everyone and they said it was okay!"_

"_But Luke… We can't just leave our responsibilities."_

"_Guy's right. Can't we hold it later?"_

"_Aw come on!" Anise popped in, saving the day. "You guys are getting wrinkles because you have been going on work every single day! It's just a week! And Nephry arranged it for us… Can't we repay her just this once??" she finished, her starry-eyes shined with glitters._

_Silence._

"_Eh, what the heck." Jade shrugged._

_Natalia looked at him. "You're going?"_

"_I could use the vacation."_

"_Yay! Then it's decided! We're all going!" Luke announced like a child._

…and yet here was the most excited person, sleeping like a baby. She smiled, watching him snooze through the morning. Then she remembered. They were going ice skating today!

Tear shook Luke awake. "Luke, wake up."

He rolled over. "Five more minutes… Zzz…"

And she asked herself why they were in one room. Sigh…. Don't worry, there are two beds. I wouldn't dare do a lemon! So don't expect one!

She placed her hands on her hips. "Luke, get up. We're going skating today, remember? You promised you'd teach me…." She muttered that last sentence.

Luke jerked up awake and nearly smacked into her head. "That's right! We have to wake the others!" and jumped off bed. She just shook her head.

He twisted the doorknob open and poked his head out. "Hey every—Whoa."

"What is it?" she asked the dumbstruck nobleman that was in front of the door. He looked back at her and showed her what it was. She gasped.

Everyone was already awake….

"Hey you two." Guy waves, eating a slice of pancake. Mm... Pancakes….

Anise drank some orange juice. "You two sure were asleep long."

"Anise, we just started eating 5 minutes ago. Besides, Jade tells me you were still snoozing…" Natalia slowly stopped her speech as the guardian gave her a glare. She sweat dropped.

"Come on, both of you. Guy might eat up all the pancakes." Jade said, pushing his glasses up. Guy gave him a look. He shrugged it off and sipped his coffee.

--At the rink--

"Whoa!" Anise's eyes were nearly as big as tea cup saucers. "It's huge!"

True, the ice rink was huge. It was outdoors, exposed to the cold snow. Around the rink, there were railings, for inexperienced or experienced skaters. At the side of the rink was an indoor canteen and a renting shop. They even sold clothes unless you forgot something. It was so cold; every skater had jackets, mittens, fuzzy earphones, scarfs… A variety of clothes. None of them dared to wear a skirt.

But Anise had a different view.

"Uhm… Anise? Why are you wearing a skirt in an ice rink?" Natalia asked.

"It must be cold…" Tear muttered, following her to the rental station.

"I'm actually doing an experiment." She told the two, paying 100 Gald for the pair of skates. "I want to see how many glances I get in wearing a skirt." She winked.

We'll see how that experiment works….

--Back Home—

"Argh! And just when I had the chance, a blizzard comes!"

"Anise, calm down. You'll get your chance tomorrow." The bowtress patted her shoulder. The young guardian spun around, her pigtails following in suite. She walked on over to everyone else, who was huddled near the fireplace. Natalia sat down beside Tear, who was seated at the right-side of the couch. At the other couch was Luke and Guy, who would have probably been frozen solid ten minutes ago by the looks on their faces. A glass table separated the two, leaving a sofa chair in front of the table.

Anise settled herself down on the single chair and sunk down in it. "I'm bored," she pouted. "What are we going to do?"

Jade settled down on the armrest. "Well, I myself would want to play "Hide and Seek"."

Everyone glared at him.

"How about 'Simon Says'?"

Luke, still glaring at Jade, replied. "That's fine with me." Everyone else agreed.

"Alright!" she sat up, feeling new anxiety in her.

"Alright, so what are the rules?" Tear asked, hoping that it wouldn't have any consequences when you lose. TT Man, she always hated games that had consequences.

"It's really simple." She said, scribbling on 6 pieces of paper. "Alright, here are the rules. Just like normal Simon Says, everyone will follow the leader's instructions. But, there's a twist!" she added in, smirking. "Instead of just picking a leader, or whatever methods, we do draw lots!"

"Draw lots?"

"Argh… Luke, do I need to explain that too??" she asked, looking at him.

"No, there's no need." Jade cutted in. "Guy will explain."

"Wha--? Why me??" he asked, pointing at himself.

"Alright, fine. I'll explain." Natalia spoke up.

O.o

Natalia?

Explain things???

NATALIA??????

O.O –backs away-

"O.o" Anise looked at her.

"What?" she asked, noticing her look.

She shook her head. "You know what, just pick one!" and flashed the pieces of paper like they were playing cards. "Now, whoever gets the lowest number will be the leader for the turn. The leader has to say two numbers and the person who has the number must do the consequence that the leader tells them to. Reminder: Nobody backs out!" she explained as they drew their number.

Anise, after checking her paper, announced. "So who has the number 1 paper?"

"I have it." Guy said, raising a hand.

"Alright, say two numbers between 1 to 6."

"Okay…" he muttered, giving into deep thought. "Number 2 and 5."

Two of them gave a fear-stricken face as Anise and Natalia both flipped their paper open.

"Alright Guy, give them a consequence." Luke nudged him.

"Since Anise is a pain….. I want you to teach Natalia to cook."

"WHAT?!" she shouted in agony. "Of all the things--!!"

"But I cook awful!" the princess retorted, defending her stand.

"Natalia, that's the point…" Tear muttered, feeling sorry for Anise.

"Argh…. Fine, let's get this over with." They both sighed, and entered the kitchen.

--After Some Time—

"Okay, okay. This'll be the last game…" she groaned. After having to help Natalia heal a charred stew, dancing to the beat of a radio music that was so upbeat and non-stop (yes Fox of Anubis, you know what song!) and having to jump—yes, not run, JUMP at least 20 laps around Keterburg. For a normal person, they would have died on the 5th lap.

But do we, readers and authors, players of Tales of the Abyss, consider Anise normal?

Anyway, moving on…

"Okay, pick one." She shuffled the papers and waited for everyone before she picked her own paper. She grinned. "Yes I got number 1!"

Natalia frowned and muttered. "And I wanted a turn, too…."

"Okay, lemme see… 3 and 6!"

She looked around and quickly spotted her victims. _And that was a lucky pick. I didn't expect it to be really their number… _she thought to herself, thinking ahead for a consequence.

"3….." Luke muttered.

"6…." Tear muttered.

They both looked at each other. "Uh oh…."

Anise was still in deep thought. Now, if her, a very creative girl, would give a consequence to the two of them, who don't know each other's feelings. YET. But Cupid's going to play with his arrows now… Suddenly, an idea hit her. She quickly went to the kitchen soon after.

"Anise, where are you going?" Jade asked, shifting his eyeglasses. He gave the pair a quick look, like trying to say that she's up to something awful. Luke gulped.

"Getting their consequence." She said, walking in the room with a box of chocolate Pocky in her hand. The colonel picked her idea up.

(Authoress: -snickers-)

"Pocky?"

Natalia looked at Guy. "Don't tell me you've never heard of Pocky?"

He sweat dropped. "No…" she sighed.

"Anyway…" she said, controlling her temptation to put some duct tape to shut her up.

"What's Pocky anyway??"

"Well, basically it's a biscuit in the form of a stick. Depending on the fla—MMPH!"

SCREETCH

"There." She said, tossing the packaged box away into a nearby closet. For some odd reason, readers seem to poke it out of curiosity since it moves.

TT

"Okay, so everyone's heard of the Pocky Game, right?" sitting back down and opening the box, she received three shakes of the head, with one nod. "For the people who shrugged and gave me a shook of their heads… You'll soon find out."

By the discourage of the authoress (and because she fainted), she will not write how the Pocky Game mechanics are. I'm sure everyone knows how it works (considering you watched Midori Days/Midori No Hibi). We are sorry for the inconvenience. Thank you.

--xylophone music plays--

Time flitted fast. The next thing the pair knew, they had a Pocky in their mouth. That wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't a single stick. TT. Anise had this reserved just for the occasion. She was threatened by herself many times to eat it, but her resistance was strong!

She sat up and placed her palms flat on the surface of the table, looking at the two. Obviously, both were blushing. Luke was shifting his eyes every now and then, trying to avoid a stare. Tear was obviously nervous, seeing as how her hands were curled up near her cheeks, shaking. She smirked in her thoughts. Who would have thought that this was going to be their consequence… Oh well, it doesn't matter. "I explained the rules crystal clear, so I would expect that you guys know what to do, right?♪" she asked in her 'oh-so-ever-innocent-voice'.

"Yeah, yeah. You told us twice!" he said, not letting go of the Pocky with his teeth. If he did, then the consequence was worse…. He gulped just thinking about it.

"Alright Anise. Now that they have the Pocky in their mouth…" Jade said, making sure Natalia heard it loud enough. "I think it would be time to start."

"Colonel, you think so?♥" she retorted, giving an innocent look.

"Would you stop that look? You give me goose bumps." Guy added up, trying to shake off the feeling by rubbing his arms.

"I don't like the look myself. Or this idea…" Tear muttered, looking down on the floor. Of all the things to do and say, why did it have to be this game??

"Anise, can't we switch consequences??" the nobleman asked, sensing his partner's insecurity. Well, he wanted a change too. Why not just run around Keterburg all day? Why not that???

'Na-uh, the players can't change their consequence. Besides, when Jade told me to dance to the tune of 'Fergalicious', I didn't back down!"

"But that's dancing! THIS is completely different!"

"I get the feeling you don't want to kiss her here, Luke." The fontechnician muttered low, sweat dropping.

"Still! A consequence is a consequence!" she waved her index finger at them. "You don't _have to kiss_! Unless, you make me make you do it…"

"Alright, alright! We won't complain anymore!" she panicked. No way did she want him to kiss her here. Not today!

"Fine then! Just start!"

"You go first!" Luke muttered.

"No, you go first!" Tear muttered back.

"You!"

"You!"

"You!"

"Oh just both start. Arguing isn't going to get you anywhere."

Having no choice, they both started to bite on the snack. Seconds pass later, the Pocky sticks keeps on getting shorter and shorter, and so does the distance between their lips…

BAM!

"JAAADEE!!" a cry of desperation shouted, and the object flung itself towards Jade, who, by instinct, transmuted his spear out and smacked it towards Luke and Tear. Seeing this ahead, the two quickly parted just before getting hit.

"Damnit Dist! And it was so close!" Anise shouted, raising a fist at him.

"Help me, Jade! The military is after me!" he popped out of the debris of books from the haters. "Jade, help meeee…"

"Guy, would you hand me that very thick dictionary?" he asked nicely.

"Uh, sure…" pulling out a very heavy dictionary out of a nearby drawer. "Here."

"JAADEE!!" Dist tries to hug him again, but fails as Jade slips away and hits him with the dictionary in the angle that will make him fly out the door. When this succeeded, he noticed a mob of girls with torches and pitchforks going his way. He shrugged and closed the door.

"Isn't that a bit harsh?"

"No. If he's lucky, he might not freeze solid the next morning."

"Poor bastard…"

Then BAM! But this time, it was Natalia.

"Argh…. Man, it was tight in there…" she huffed for air in her lungs. She nearly suffocated.

Anise snapped her fingers. "Damnit, and I thought she wouldn't last that long! I could have sworn I placed in a smoke bomb!"

"So YOU planted the smoke bomb?!" she retorted, a feeling of rage rushed in her.

"Yeah! So what if I did?!"

"Darn it, you nearly killed me in there!!"

"What did you think the smoke bomb was in there for?!"

"I dunno!!!"

Seeing as the verdict changed directions, they both sighed in relief. And we fangirls and boys thought they were going to kiss. Seeing as it was already dark outside, one of them spoke up. "Guys, it's getting late. Maybe we should go to sleep."

"Good idea. But who's going to break up the cat fight?" Guy asked, slowly backing away as his gynophobia started its effect again.

"Oh no, we just leave them there and they'll soon notice. I'm sure they won't mind." Jade said, climbing up to the second floor to their rooms.

--Later that evening--

_Damnit… No matter what I do, I can't sleep at all… _Tear shifted her position, this time facing the ceiling. Today's events were lingering into her mind lately. That Pocky was so good… And it was chocolate flavor too… She shook his head to clear her thoughts. Insomnia sinking in, she sat up and opened the glass doors leading to the garden. It wasn't a very spacious garden, but it was big enough to throw a small party in.

The moonlight shone down on her shadow as she leaned on the marble railing, cold quickly seeping through her skin. It was cold, but she didn't mind. Maybe it would help her sleep… The silence was deafening, so she decided to hum a tune. She didn't know how long she was singing that, but it didn't help on making her sleepy.

"Can't sleep, huh?" she whizzed her head around to see who it was, and sighed to see who it was.

"Yeah. You?" she asked, returning to her original position.

"Couldn't either." He retorted, settling down beside her.

Again, silence stepped up. She hated the deafening silence, but if that would help her sleep, then she didn't mind it at all. She tried that idea, but found that it would take up most of her time. She shivered slightly in the cold.

"Tear, you're shivering." He dropped his jacket on her shoulders.

"Still…. Even with a jacket on, I still feel cold." She muttered, seeing her own breath puff right in front of her.

"T-then…. Would this make you feel warmer…?" he asked, shyly moving closer to her. Seconds later, he was already hugging her.

"U-uh…" she stammered, trying to fight a blush. She glanced at him, but just found that he was trying hard to fight a blush too.

"W-well… You said it was still cold…. right?"

"Y-yeah…."

Short silence.

"I-is it still cold now?" he asked her, his voice nearly shaking from his nervousness.

"No… It actually feels warmer…" she answered, resting her head on him. Maybe, just maybe, this would help her sleep.

He gulped. "Hey Tear?"

"What is--" before even finishing her sentence, she quickly got beaten to it.

By a kiss.

At first, Tear was too shocked to even know what was going on. First, she was going to ask a question then Luke just… kisses her? Her first reaction would have been to pull away. Instead, she replied by kissing him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he did around her waist, deepening the kiss. The feeling was electric, yet neither of the two wanted to pull away. Not even the cold made them part.

Feeling as if hours passed by, both pulled away at the same time, short on breaths.

"Did you…. mean to do that….?" She asked, regaining her voice first.

"I-I didn't expect it like that…." He rubbed the back of his head, his cheeks tainted pink.

"…Silly… You could've told me first."

"It's too late for that now…." He blurted out softly. He took a chance to glance at her blushing. "That was…"

"Our first kiss, huh?"

Serenity.

"It's getting late… We should get inside and get some sleep."

"Yeah…"

The two walked into their room together, shutting the door soon after. Luke sat down on his bed as Tear sat down on hers.

"Hey Luke?"

"Yeah?" he turned his head to look at her.

"I just wanted to say…. I love you."

He smiled. "I love you too."

She sighed in relief inaudibly. "Well… goodnight."

"Night."

Authoress's Notes: Hi. Okay, so now you're wondering what that fanart was, eh? Lol. This was 2 days behind, but I had a busy day! Its so early in the morning (12 am) and I was so tempted to sleep! But thanks to the motivation of an author and fellow friend, I stayed awake just to finish this! It may not be the serious types of fics, but I hope that author likes this (that person knows who s/he is!). I'm just so glad that I stayed up long enough to finish it. I hope everyone liked it! Please review! It would mean so much to me, but would take you little effort! Simple thoughts like "Good job!" or "Nice work!" would be a total spirit-raiser! Please be kind enough to give me a review! Constructive criticism will be taken in as family, but flames will go to the slums. I just hope it doesn't burn the slums…. Anyway, please review! I'm off to sleep! (wink) See yah!

Oh and…

**REVIEW:D PWEEEASE??? (puppy eyes)**


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